Home Shopping

We don't have much space in our little cottage so over the last couple of months, I have been moving furniture to create an efficient and pleasing flow.

I bought one new piece of furniture, but otherwise I have been "home shopping" and moving or deleting pieces.

I love my old classroom stool, but it got bumped upstairs to the attic after I bought a fun bistro chair - I'm sure on my next home shopping spree the stool will come back downstairs.

I hated to delete the ladder from the house, but due to space, it is now in the garage rafters.

This shelf on the porch got bumped to the garage where it holds paint and craft supplies.

The table holding the sailboat was moved from our bedroom 

to the porch and cut down to fit - the window had been waiting for a place to land.

The little white table in the garden house was moved to the hallway

where it takes up far less space than 

the sweet little green pie safe did.

The color is perfect in our bedroom, but it's not styled as cute - it's earning its keep by housing some of my sweaters.

This little cabinet was hanging in our bathroom before our remodel - after adding feet, it was moved to the garden house for storage.

It merely got bumped to the other side of the garden house when the little table went to the hallway.

This cabinet was pretty in the guest room, but there were too many tall pieces competing in the room.

It's now it's in the garden house holding linens - far more functional.

 The table in front of the door is now in the living room.

It's the perfect depth for the space, but just a tad too long so I'm on a slow hunt for the perfect skinny table.

The table holding the typewriter and the red bistro chair both got moved.

The little red chair is now in the entry and I don't think I will ever move it.

When the ladder went into the rafters, my grandmother's rocker came down - that's the little white table in its original green.

 I originally bought the table for the guest room and it looks right at home once again.

Wearing white, the rocker fits right in even though one of the rockers is broken - it's probably 125 years old.

The red cart from the living room is in the guest room and because the blue clashed with it, the door is once again white.

This vintage look shopping cart was out by the garden house- the cart seems to rotate inside and outside all the time.

With a more efficient use of the furniture and space,

 I will have lots more time on the beach 

and I can whip our garden into shape.

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Join me

My Wee Abode - Homestyle Gathering

Join me at A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday

Laying on the Couch

I am being a good girl and simply resting -

- recovery from surgery to remove squamous cell cancer on my leg 4 weeks ago was going slowing and now there are complications because I did too much too soon.

Since I can't be styling the new bistro chairs a friend picked up at a Pop Up Shop I had to skip today,

Kyoko

I thought I would share some of the beautiful inspiration I saw as I scrolled Instagram throughout the day.

I have been following Elizabeth @elizabeths_humble_house for years as she and her husband transform an old house into a magical home.

It would be worth joining Instagram just to watch the daily changes of this incredible house although she is working on a book about the transformation.

She is a fabulous photographer, Elizabeth Maxson Photography, and you can learn more about her here.

This island shared by Emily @our1880farmhouse 

and this coffee table shared by @dreamywhiteslifestyle are the inspiration for a coffee table I was working on.

Emily @vintage_beautyvb

I'm not sure I can convince Steve he needs a checkered floor in his studio, but it would look so cool.

I have an old wooden box and the new chandelier in the dining room might need some greenery like this beautiful room styled by Tammy @sweckerfarm.

Lindsey @repurposedandupcycle

I haven't shared my 2019 Goals yet, but knocking a hole in a hallway wall to create a closet is on my list - I have not convinced Steve that this is an efficient idea yet, but this door will certainly be fun if I talk him into the closet idea!

And speaking of efficiency, which is my Word of the Year for 2018, this chair shared by Shirley  @houspitalitydesigns, would be a much more efficient design for the chair next to our fireplace.

Leslie @lesliedawsonh

I had to share this pic just because it is so cute.

I'll leave you with this perfect little cottage shared by Suzanne @shabbymemoir.

Hopefully my next post will be of my garden or if things go well, that coffee table project I mentioned.

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I should mention that it's possible some of the people I featured have private accounts. I'm following all of them, but you might not be able to access them.

Keeping It Cozy

Welcome to the Cozy Winter Homes Blog Hop hosted by Amber of Follow the Yellow Brick Home.

If you're following along in order, then you were just at Decor to Adore - 

Laura has such a great style.

This is a typical January view in my neck of the woods so I had to look back at old posts to see what I usually do to make our house cozy after Christmas.

For January, the common theme over the last 7 years of blogging was flowers.

Be they fresh, faux or dried - flowers appear in every room so come on in and check out my winter flower displays.

You might question my use of these particular faux flowers for winter,

but presently both blue and yellow flowers are growing in our garden.

 Flowers brighten up the white entry -

 tulips and chamomile are a perfect touch

as are dried roses.

I am constantly changing up the flowers on the dining room table - these are from the garden.

But garden flowers are limited this time of year

so weekly visits to Trader Joe's provide lovely colorful blooms for the dining room.

Like the entry, the kitchen is mostly white and flowers add the perfect bit of color.

Chamomile fills a fun pitcher on the kitchen counter

and garden flowers dress up the kitchen shelves.

 Flowers appear throughout the guest room - on the shelves, on the nightstand and even in the pattern of the new bedspread.

My grandmother's rocker sports a teapot full of faux greenery

and dried roses adorn a little dresser.

Faux hydrangeas are perfect next to our bed.

Dried roses and greenery appear in the hallway.

If you are new to Art and Sand, you might not know that my husband is an artist and our home is his gallery.

This cozy spot on the sofa has been lovely on the cold days we have actually had this winter, but my fern was not thriving sitting right beneath the heater vent

so I replaced it with more faux hydrangeas.

The fern now sits atop one of my father's old tool boxes.

As you can see, it's a lovely day so let's head outside to see how I've cozied up the garden.

Fresh flowers from the garden sit atop a table on the porch.

A visit to the nursery filled up Steve's wheelbarrow and I have my work cut out for me in the garden this week.

And now I'll send you off to visit Cecilia of My Thrift Store Addiction.

I hope you enjoy all the other blogs on the hop.

An InLinkz Link-up